'But our sales revenue will increase sharply as we release three big new residential projects next month,' Mr Hui said after the firm's annual general meeting. The new projects are in Shanghai and Shenyang.

In Shenyang, several hundreds of potential buyers had made reservations for the project soon to be launched there, said Mr Hui. He hoped it will take 1 billion yuan.

Chairman Hui Wing-mau (right), the mainland's third-richest entrepreneur and father of Jason, said the company did not have plans to cut prices for its projects.

'We have seen property prices in some cities in southern China declining. But we do not have projects there,' he said.

On the issue of would-be buyers in Beijing and Shenzhen opting to forfeit their deposits and cancel their purchases, the chairman believed the situation was not serious since only a small number of buyers were involved. 'They probably bought their apartments at peak prices. They decided not to proceed with transactions after seeing property prices drop,' he said.

He remains upbeat about the market's prospects, as strong economic growth coupled with limited land supply should continue to spur demand in the long run. 'Property prices are unlikely to drop significantly,' he said.

Shimao has set aside 3.5 billion yuan for land acquisition this year, but Jason Hui said the firm would become more selective. 'We will be more demanding when we buy land. Prices must be low even at good locations,' he said.

The vice-chairman said the company had added 10 million square metres last year at an average cost of 1,400 yuan per square metre.

The firm has a land bank which can generate 26 million sq metres of gross floor space in places including Shanghai, Beijing, Kushan, Changshu, Harbin, Shenyang and Dalian.

Asked whether he was interested in bidding for control of Shaw Brothers, Hui Wing-mau said he would focus on property development and had no plans to get involved in television broadcasting.

Shares of Shimao fell 3.81 per cent to close at HK$10.10 yesterday.